Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Heather
here! I love discovering new stories by authors of science fiction romance, so
when Pippa Jay announced the
release of TERMS & CONDITIONS APPLY (space opera short story), I was
intrigued.

TERMS
& CONDITIONS APPLY is a highly atypical title for romance (if not SF), but
it grabbed me from the start. By way of explanation, I have an admittedly
eccentric interest in mundane phrases being re-invented as story titles (For
example, “Yellow #5,” a synthetic food dye, is a phrase I’d love to see used
for a book or film.).

For
the phrase “terms & conditions apply” to be paired with a sci-fi romance
promised something unusual. That’s what really drove my interest—I wanted to
know the mystery behind the phrase and how it related to the story.

Next,
I learned about the blurb:

“Welcome
to Venus Ascendant, a Public Grade space station in the Andromedan Galaxy. With
our open-to-all policy, any being in the universe can find their perfect R
& R, romantic getaway or dangerous liaison at our purpose built resort. The
on-board empathic AI Ganesa ensures that anyone coming to Venus Ascendant will
find their heart’s desire, with suites that transform from luxurious boudoirs
to sunset-lit beaches to dark BDSM dungeons. So come to Venus Ascendant and
find exactly what you’re looking for!”

It was meant to be a romantic getaway for Marie and the love of her life
Jaisen; a chance for him to get to know her better after months of her denying
him more than a few stolen kisses. Instead, Marie finds herself dumped and
alone on Venus Ascendant with no credit for a transmat and the next starship
home not due for another hour.

But the all-seeing AI isn’t going to leave anyone aboard the space station with
their dreams unfulfilled. Marie's boyfriend might not have made it to the
station, but there are others willing and able to take on the role - even if
they aren’t entirely human.

The
marketing-within-marketing angle hooked me further. I also liked the mystery
surrounding Marie’s potential new paramour. Beyond those elements, I didn’t
need anything else to convince me—I bought the story.

Once I read it, I knew I had to invite TGE
contributor Diane Dooley aboard for one of our book chats. TERMS &
CONDITIONS APPLY went in some unusual directions and raised certain questions
worth discussing.

Warning:
This post is not a review but contains Major Spoilers. If you intend to read
this story, I recommend you avoid this post until you’ve done so.

So, Diane, let me hit you up with the first element
that jumped out at me from TERMS & CONDITIONS APPLY. I felt the story had a
surprising amount of religious subtext, much of it Christian. Here are some
examples:

Marie is a virgin. When the story opens, she thinks,
“So much for their first romantic getaway together. After all those months of
badgering her, all those times she’d held back, not willing to give up her
virginity without some kind of promise of a future together…” (Kindle location
75 of 721)

Early in the story, Marie encounters a statue:
“…pseudo-bronze statue of a naked woman, her modesty protected only by a veil
of wavy hair…” (60)

“Your loss, creep. Go to hell!” (80)

“…god-like act worthy of worship?” (183)

An
aura of divinity, perhaps? (189)

The hero, Soren, is a “devoted disciple” of Ganesa,
the AI in charge of Venus Ascendant

“Why did she
keep treating him [Soren] like a prostitute instead of the man she believed she
could see?” (242) [Hmm, shades of Mary Magdalene?]

Of her quarters aboard the station, Marie says,
“This is heaven. I’ve died and gone to heaven.” (276)

“Oh my god!” (431)

“Oh my god,…” (475)

“Oh my god!” (636)

To clarify, I was raised Roman Catholic, so I may be
giving the above references more weight than other readers. That said, I was
curious about the themes of faith and celibacy before marriage/lifelong
commitment. I wonder, is the religious subtext intentional? The reason I ask is
that if I encounter a virgin heroine in a futuristic setting, I start looking
for plausible reasons (outside of a repressive society).

Regardless of authorial intent, in light of the
ending one could surmise the story explores the intersection of love and
spiritual beliefs and how sometimes that intersection leads to internal
conflict for some people (e.g., should one marry for love or procreation?
Should sexual history be a factor when considering a potential partner?). TERMS
& CONDITIONS APPLY might be interpreted as a way of questioning the status
quo of Christian type religious beliefs as they relate to love, sex, and
marriage.

What about the gender bias inherent in the idea that
a woman should remain a virgin until marriage? Was Jaisen also a virgin in this
world? I don’t recall the story revealing that—to my mind—very important
information. It would have been an interesting angle to explore.

Diane, any thoughts on the religious subtext or did
you have a different experience?

Diane:
On my first read I didn’t notice the religious subtext until I got to the end.
The highly unusual ending, in which Marie is fatally injured and is offered the
opportunity to live on in a different form, made me think of an amalgamation of
resurrection and reincarnation.

When I read it for the second time I paid more
attention to possible religious subtext and the examples you mentioned above
did jump out at me. I think the author intended to portray a future world in
which religion is still an important part of many people’s lives. It didn’t
feel in the least bit preachy to me, more a nice little layer that adds
richness to the world building.

Why was Marie still a virgin? I will say that she
came across as very young and somewhat immature, giving the story a ‘new adult’
feel to me. She seemed to have given her heart to someone unworthy of it, then
was able to transfer her affections to Soren with relative ease. She struck me
as someone who wanted to be in love, who wanted to experience love-making.

Of interest to me, also, were the references to
class. Marie refers to herself as ‘worker grade’ a couple of times, as opposed
to Jaisen, who seemed to be of a wealthier class. Certainly he seemed able to
afford what must have been a very expensive trip to Venus Ascendant, and then
abruptly cancel his plans after wooing Marie for some time.

Marie seems to have been holding out for some kind
of commitment from him before giving up the goodies, but then gets cruelly
dumped, while suspecting that Jaisen is getting what he wants from a woman of
his own class.

Again, I liked these little world building details,
though I would have liked for them to be fleshed out a little more. Being that
they’re from different classes, how did Marie and Jaisen meet? Did their
budding relationship take place in Jaisen’s world or Marie’s? Did Jaisen think
Marie would be ‘easy’ because she is less wealthy than him? I would have liked
to have known more.

Heather:
Oh, good point about the resurrection/reincarnation. Yes, that framework fits
vis a vis the other subtext. I agree, it wasn’t preachy. This story seemed to
blend ideas from Western and Eastern religions and explore elements of both.

“Terms &
Conditions Apply, for example has a...how shall I
put it?...non-traditional HEA for a romance - or for any kind of genre
really. My editor noted that fact to me in the final rounds.”

After finishing the story, I was scratching my head
over the perception that the HEA is non-traditional. IMHO it falls squarely
within SFR genre conventions and was consistent with other story elements.

Because of an avatar’s function as an employee of
Venus Ascendant, I can understand why some readers might interpret the HEA
differently than I do. And if a monogamy-themed HEA is important to you, then
the ending of this story might not be up your alley.

On the other hand, the ending leaves things open to
interpretation. How one reacts to the ending will depend on what one expects
from a story: Are you seeking validation of your worldview or are you
comfortable being asked to question your assumptions about your worldview?

TERMS & CONDITIONS APPLY is an example of where science
fiction romance distinguishes itself from non-speculative romance subgenres.
SFR actively invites readers to explore other worldviews, other perspectives,
and other cultures. Not only to explore, but also to accept that the HEA/HFN is
the best one for the characters.

Also, in this story technology plays an important
role because it led to a culture of avatars, a type of society with its own
unique traditions and belief system. There’s a strong theme about the idea of
acceptance in this story, particularly as it relates to artificial intelligence.

Do you have any thoughts about the ending--or any
other elements?

Diane:
I was in mixed minds about the ending. On one hand I loved that, up until the
very end, I was completely in the dark as to how these two would achieve their
HEA. As a romance reader, I love it when an author manages to keep the stakes high
until the very end. But, on the other hand, I also felt that being an avatar
serving Ganesha aboard Venus Ascendant was very close to being a slave; the
purpose of the avatar being to serve the guests in any way necessary, while
being unable to leave.

Even though, for their own personal reasons, the
avatars agree to these ‘terms and conditions,’ I still felt that happiness for
the characters was not a given. I imagined Marie and Soren returning to their
personal quarters after the end of the work day and discussing how their days
had gone. “I delivered a round of blowjobs to a trio of drunken Ferengi. How
was your day, honey?” “Oh, well, my ass hurts really bad, but the guests were
happy with my services, so that’s okay.”

Maybe my imagination is being a little harsh, but
Marie in particular was very sexually inexperienced and when she made the
decision to stay aboard as an avatar so that she could be with Soren I found
myself thinking that she was making a rash and immature decision, especially
since she had the option of NOT remaining on Venus Ascendant.

I’m not a reader who requires a ‘happy ever after’
wrapped up in a big red bow, complete with adorable baby epilogue, so I was
fine with my wondering what would happen next in the story. As I so often do
when an ending fails to fully satisfy my curiosity, I added my own little
internal epilogue, in which Soren and Marie lead an uprising of avatars, banish
Ganesha, and turn Venus Ascendant into a paradise for their kind. *grin*

Final thoughts: a well-written and thought-provoking
short novella which, though it failed to satisfy me completely, did hold my
attention and curiosity throughout the story, and remained in my thoughts even
after I’d read it twice.

Heather:
I can see how that interpretation could make for an unsatisfying/ambiguous HEA
for some readers. What if Marie had been able to consider the offer while not
under duress? Would the avatar lifestyle have been a first choice rather than a
last/only resort?

Also, there are ethical implications I wish the
story had explored—if criminals can be made into avatars, how does Ganesha
address issues of mental health? Does she screen the candidates in any way? I
shudder to think about what an avatar with undiagnosed antisocial personality
disorder might do with the kind of power Soren had.

Marie expresses relief that Soren hadn't been a criminal in his former life, which made me go "Hmmm" and wish for a story where the avatar love interest
*had* been a criminal.

While I wish TERMS & CONDITIONS APPLY had had more story development in a few areas, it raises plenty of issues worth
analyzing. I’m glad I read it.

Share this post:

About Me: Heather travels the sea of stars for news about science fiction romance. She's also an author in the genre. To get in touch, you can email her, or follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

About Me

Heather’s debut sci-fi romance novel, Once Upon a Time in Space, features the last living descendant of Christopher Columbus on a desperate quest to find a new world. Standing in his way is Raquel, the deadliest space pirate in the galaxy.